It’s not practical to assume that your nonprofit board of directors can feasibly communicate with each other only during official gatherings. However, if the people who are part of a board live in different places or have busy schedules, keeping in touch can be tough. Fortunately, there are numerous board collaboration tools to aid your nonprofit. They’re even reasonably priced!
1. Glip
Glip facilitates real-time text, voice and video chats. It also includes a task-assignment system for project management, and the ability to add comments or files to each project. Screen-sharing features bring clarity when explaining concepts to board members who aren’t in the same room. Plus, Glip has a web interface, along with Android and iOS apps, helping people collaborate on the go.
(Free plan available with a premium plan for $5 per person, per month.)
2. mycommittee
When choosing board collaboration tools, it’s essential to think about the specific goals you want to achieve. mycommittee is a management tool that ensures everyone is on the same page when it’s time for members to come together and make informed decisions.
It allows for sharing documents with the public or other committees, starting group conversations, creating polls that let board members weigh in with opinions and building public-facing webpages to share information with the world after reaching conclusions.
(Prices range from $19 to $199 per month.)
3. G Suite for Nonprofits
You may have heard of G Suite, which is Google’s enterprise-level suite of products for teams. G Suite for Nonprofits gives you access to a wide range of applications and is free for nonprofits that meet eligibility requirements.
The components found in G Suite for Nonprofits encompass numerous types of resources for collaboration like creating forms, editing shared documents, viewing grant proposals and similar necessities handled by boards of directors or their respective organizations.
The tool also offers 30 GB of shared storage space per user. Because material exists in the cloud, it’s accessible at any time from any device.
(Free for nonprofits that meet the eligibility requirements.)
4. Microsoft Whiteboard Preview
This shared digital whiteboard app is ideal for calling attention to different areas of spreadsheets, collecting feedback given in board meetings or checking agenda items off of an outline. When using a compatible product equipped with Windows 10, board members can use their fingers or the app’s built-in, colorful pen tools to make their points.
Collaboration occurs in real-time, so anyone, regardless of where they are in the world, can keep up with what happens within the app. Plus, it’s possible to export content from whiteboards as images, making it easy to refer to them later.
Helping Board Members Get More Done and Maximize Results
When a board of directors communicates well, the likelihood goes up that the nonprofit will keep running smoothly and encounter fewer issues than expected.
These nonprofit collaboration tools ensure that board members can give their thoughts and provide insights that strengthen the nonprofit and improve its operations. Moreover, they don’t require board members to be in the same room or even the same country.
The cost of tools can be a constant concern for cash-strapped nonprofits. Fortunately, these options feature sensible prices, so you can get things done without running into budgetary issues.
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Kayla Matthews writes about AI, the cloud and retail technology. You can also find her work on The Week, WIRED, Digital Trends, MarketingDive and Contently, or check out her personal tech blog.